


Boyfriend Of The Year

by Ji_chan



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Cooking, Domestic Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 20:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9674105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ji_chan/pseuds/Ji_chan
Summary: It's Valentine's and you can't possibly mess up cupcakes. Except if you're Neil Josten. But hey, what are friends for?





	

**Author's Note:**

> AFTG Valentine's Challenge fic

Neil looked at the disaster on the table. The recipe he found online said it was the easiest thing in the universe to do but Neil had somehow messed it up anyway. What he now has before him has chocolate all over it and some of the cupcakes crumbled the moment he tried to get them out of the pan. The only thing that stayed whole in those was the hazelnuts from Ferrero Rocher chocolate he put inside.

The worst thing in all that—Neil isn’t really sure what exactly he did wrong. He eyes the bag in the corner of the kitchen. Ever too cautious, he actually bought extra ingredients, and if he could ask anyone what went wrong without it making the team news he might be able to actually do it right the second time.

Kevin is in a beanbag watching a game on his laptop but his eyes follow Neil when Neil strides past him, hands covered with chocolate and batter under his short-cut nails. Neil doesn’t stop to explain. He only stops in the bathroom on the way because Allison would kill him if he damaged the new smartphone she bullied him (and, consequently, Andrew) into buying.

Among all the boys in the team, except Andrew, Nicky would most certainly indulge in something as sweet as cupcakes so he could be of help. But Nicky has that lack of brain-to-mouth filter and a whole team or even campus will know Neil is making cupcakes the moment Nicky hears of it. And although the times passed when Neil jumped at every bit of attention, he still does not enjoy being the center of it. Also, both team and campus include Andrew. Calling Nicky is out of the question.

Aaron has Katelyn to cook for him, and anyway Neil would never go to Aaron with this. Jarring comments, ridicule, and complete lack of help wouldn’t be worth the effort.

Matt said himself that he couldn’t cook a decent meal to save his life.

Dan could help, Neil thinks, but she and Matt have their Valentine’s date today and Neil doesn’t want to interrupt them. They don’t have a lot of dates, with exy and how messed up a team the Foxes are and all that.

Allison, aside from being a social media star and posting every moderately interesting thing happening around (and Neil cooking cupcakes is not just moderately interesting) on Twitter and Instagram, probably never really cooked, Neil ponders. Not that she can’t, per se, but Neil is sure she wouldn’t really enjoy the process. And she has Renee to cook for her.

Right, Renee. That is his best shot.

“Neil?” Renee sounds surprised when she accepts the call. “Is everything okay?”

“Er, yeah?” Neil answers, a bit puzzled. Then he tries to count the times he called Renee and comes out empty. He pushes the sudden guilt deeper inside. “Sorry to bother you but I might use a little help if you’re not busy? A cooking advice.”

He thinks this would result in a minute silence as everyone know Neil never really cooks but Renee just ‘sure’s casually.

“Should I leave the room or you’re okay with Allison eavesdropping?” she asks instead.

Neil stalls for a second.

“Errr. If she promises to not say a word at least till evening...”

“She does,” Renee says without losing a beat, undoubtedly taking Allison’s phone and netbook from her. The loud “Hey!” is proof enough.

“So what happened?”

“I messed up some cupcakes but I don’t know what I did wrong. Can’t really try again before I find out?”

He knows he sounds more uncertain than he usually allows himself to. He can’t bring himself to care. This is Renee, after all, she’ll understand.

“What kind of cupcakes?” Renee asks.

“Chocolate ones” Neil answers the same time Allison shouts ‘That’s a stupid question, the monster eats chocolate like he can’t get fat’ from somewhere in the room with Renee. She really is eavesdropping.

“No, not the flavor. You used a cake mix, I think? So what kind. And also how the cakes turned out exactly,” she is silent for just a second before continuing. “Maybe I should come to your room and see? That would be more accurate. And I could supervise you.”

Why didn’t Neil think of it himself from the start?

“That would be great! I mean, if you’re not busy”

“I’m not. Be there in a couple minutes”

“Thanks, Renee” Neil says. He feels a bit more confident.

She murmurs ‘nevermind’ and hangs up and Neil heads back to the kitchen to get the extra ingredients unpacked.

Except when he gets there, Andrew is standing at the kitchen door observing the mess Neil left. Kevin stands behind Andrew, and Nicky, too, taps something with his phone and giggles. He beams instantly when he spots Neil.

“Awwwww, Neil! Were you making Valentine’s cupcakes for Andrew? You’re the best boyfriend ever!”

Andrew is silent. Well, Andrew is silent most of the time, but Neil learned to interpret his silence, both for himself and for the team (he has a lot of practice with the youngest members). This silence is unimpressed. Andrew’s voice is equally unimpressed when he turns to look at Neil.

“You’re a loser.”

“I thought you had classes,” is all Neil can say to that.

“Kevin called.” Andrew answers. “Said you’re trying to burn down the dorm. Probably was scared you’ll do it with him inside.”

Kevin scowls as he points at Neil accusingly.

“You left the oven on,” he says.

“And instead of getting me in my room, you called Andrew,” Neil answers, crossing his arms and scowling back at Kevin.

‘You spoiled the surprise’ he wants to say but doesn’t. Kevin just ‘hump’s and returns to his laptop.

A tentative tap at the door announces Renee, giving Neil an excuse to not stand there longer staring at Andrew’s back. Renee has Allison’s laptop under her arm and a bag in her hand at which Neil blinks in surprise.

“I thought you might not have some handy tools,” she smiles at him. The smile doesn't falter one bit when she spots Andrew. It never does and Neil is always infinitely grateful for that. Except, for a change, he would prefer it if Andrew was still in class.

“Hi Andrew. Will you join us?” Renee slides into a kitchen as if it is not strange at all for either of the boys to cook cupcakes with her in their kitchen.

To Neil’s surprise, Andrew follows Renee to the kitchen. That’s when Neil notices the bags in his hands. Didn’t Andrew come straight from class?

While Renee rummages in their fridge and lines everything she’ll need, Andrew deposits the bags on the cabinet and goes to wash his hands. Neil pokes into one of the bags to find oranges there, some tangerines, and other fruit. The second bag has alcohol—they run out of vodka a couple days ago when they celebrated a winning streak.

Andrew comes back dressed in his sweats and a t-shirt, the ever-present armbands covering his scars the same as Neil’s do but his sleeves rolled up. He pushes Neil to the chair.

“Sit there.”

Nicky is near Neil in a blink, with a stupidly delighted expression on his face and a phone still in his hand.

“I need a close-up of those!” he shouts and all but jumps around in delight. Neil imagines there is some kind of bet again on his and Andrew’s relationship and Nicky might have won it. Which does not prevent Nicky from being genuinely happy for them but is probably still true.

Andrew surely comes to the same conclusion as he shows Nicky out of the kitchen with a hand on Nicky’s face. Nicky still manages to get a photo of a disaster that is Neil’s attempt on cupcakes.

Renee separates the cupcakes on two plates, the completely ruined and the slightly better ones.

“You should throw them all out,” Neil says to Renee. She smiles at him and puts the plates on a windowsill.

“Most are still edible, just a bit messy,” she says. “If you want, I can take them to a charity dinner I go to sometimes. But I think they are not that bad.”

Neil nods to whatever Renee wants to do with the cupcakes and tries to stand up.

“So what exactly did I do wrong and where do we start now?”

“Oh, I think you maybe just put too much batter in some moulds and too little in others,” Renee points to the crumbled cakes. “These ones got a bit overcooked and dry. And then you tried to pour chocolate over them before they cooled down so it melted too much. This is not a major mistake, you did great for the first time.”

Andrew snorts at that.

“What?” Neil turns to him, feeling irritated.

“It’s not that easy to mess up cupcakes,” Andrew says, putting two oranges on the table, then he points Neil back to the chair. “Sit there.”

“I’m making cupcakes with Renee,” Neil says. Andrew rolls his eyes and shows Neil to the chair. He points to the oranges and gives Neil a peeler.

“Peel.”

“What?”

“You’re making cupcakes. Peel.”

Neil’s puzzled expression is met by Andrew’s bored one.

“Orange zest adds to the flavor,” Renee helps. “It’s not necessary and is not often in recipes but it goes well with chocolate.”

As Renee starts to prepare the cake mix, Neil watches Andrew mixing some flour with milk before he takes the dish where Neil mixed whipping cream with chocolate chips and vanilla and he adds there some more of those too.

“What are you doing, Andrew?” Neil asks, finished peeling the second orange.

Andrew casts a side glance at him and points to the orange.

“Eat those. We don’t need them.”

Then he takes the mixer and Neil can’t really ask anything over the sound. Renee seems to understand Andrew, though, as she takes another dish too and separates the dough she made into two parts.

Neil feels stupid over the whole situation: he wanted to surprise Andrew with chocolate cupcakes covered with chocolate and with more chocolate on the top (he thought of Andrew the moment he saw the recipe) and now it looks like Andrew will make the cupcakes for himself by himself, if with a bit of Renee’s help. And Neil will only peel oranges. And eat them.

“Neil,” Andrew turns off the mixer. “Make strong coffee.”

“What?” Neil asks for what feels like tenth time in the last half an hour. Andrew gets a bottle of vodka and one of whiskey from the bag he brought.

“Espresso martini cupcakes. Except not martini,” he explains as he pours couple of spoons of both whiskey and vodka into one of the bawls with dough and into the cream he made earlier. Then he swings some of the whiskey right from the bottle before putting it aside. As he proceeds to mix one and then the other, Renee takes the peel Neil got off the oranges and grates it into the dough without alcohol.

Neil feels his nerves slowly calming at Andrew giving him orders. Andrew does not think Neil is all that unhelpful. It still stings a little that he couldn’t manage the cupcakes on his own but it’s okay. It’s not the last time.

So Neil makes coffee (stronger than they usually drink). Renee takes the mixer from Andrew and mixes the dough. Neil watches Andrew lick the cream from his fingers, reluctant to wash off even a bit of sweetness and alcohol. Somehow, from Andrew this does not look as lewd as Neil thought it would. But he still wants to lick it from Andrew’s fingers himself. He feels heat coming up his neck but with Renee in the room he just chews on his lip and does nothing.

“Renee, you have coffee extract at yours?” Andrew asks when Renee turns off the mixer.

“Yes. Need some?” Renee turns to Andrew as Andrew nods, Neil trailing his movements from the corner of his eye.

They have the extract too, and Andrew must know this. Maybe Andrew noticed his hungry stare after all.

“I’ll go get it then,” Renee says and exits the room.

Neil hears the coffee pot signaling ready but he ignores it, instead making a step towards Andrew.

Andrew has some cream splatters left on his neck and near his left ear.

“Andrew, yes or no?”

“Yes,” Andrew turns to him with one eyebrow raised and he hisses silently when Neil drags his tongue from Andrew’s neck up. The skin is salty after a day and sweet from cream. It tastes uniquely of Andrew and Neil loves it.

They do not exactly have a lot of time before Renee comes back; they kiss like it’s their first or the last time and Andrew bites Neil’s lip when they part.

Renee’s approach this time is announced by Allison who strides in the main room and clearly heads for her phone. Her voice is loud enough for Neil to hear despite the closed door.

“What the fuck, Hemmick! I was the one who knew this first, how is it you who posted it?”

“The perks of being a family!” Nicky sing-songs.

Neil steps away from Andrew right when Renee enters the kitchen with a small bottle she hands to Andrew.

“What’s that all about?” Neil asks Renee as the bickering in the room continues, albeit a little quieter.

“Nicky posted a picture of your cupcakes on Instagram,” Renee looks somewhat sorry yet happy nevertheless. Neil wonders how she does that for only a second before her words sink in. Then he fishes his phone from his pocket.

The picture at the top of his feed is from Matt, actually. It’s a photo of a kid in a fox hoodie complete with ears and tail. The caption says “we need to buy this for neil!!”. It has several dozens of likes already and comments in a venue of “yes please!” from a team youngsters. Neil types “what the hell boyd it’s a kid’s costume!” before continuing to scroll.

Nicky’s photo is several exy-related entries later. Nicky got the very end of the plate with ugly cupcakes but he made some decorations on it, stars and hearts and glitter and wrote “BOYFRIEND OF THE YEAR!!!!!” there with an unimaginable number of happy emoticons. Neil scowls at the picture but can’t find words to comment. Despite the embarrassment, he feels delighted too. Of course, Nicky is just over dramatic like he always is but it still makes Neil feel warm and fuzzy inside to be called that.

He contemplates for a bit before finally posting a facepalm and “Please Nicky delete it”. He hears Nicky’s “NO I WON’T” from the room and then the same appears below Neil’s comment on the screen. Neil sighs and turns the screen off—he did try.

Andrew is mixing whiskey and vodka into coffee when Neil looks around, and Renee finishes mixing coffee extract into Andrew’s part of the dough it seems. She then turns around and asks.

“Neil, want to distribute the dough?”

“Is it okay?” he asks. That was one of the things he did wrong before, wasn’t it?

“Sure. Just use ice cream scoop to make them the same size.”

Andrew doesn’t seem to object as he stands near the cabinet and sips whiskey (this time from a glass) while Neil scoops the dough from one dish and then the other and puts it into cupcake moulds.

They don’t have enough Ferrero chocolates left to put both inside and on top of the cakes so they decide on top only. Then Renee puts two pans into the oven.

“Cream?” Renee asks as she puts the mittens off.

As Andrew pushes from the cabinet and goes for the bowls of cream he catches a hem of Neil’s t-shirt and tugs it for Neil to follow. Andrew shows the bowl with chocolate chips into Neil’s hands.

“You did this before.”

Renee takes a clean bowl and mixes butter and sugar there while Neil and Andrew stand together over the stove whipping cream in their cream bowls. They are so close that Neil feels the heat of Andrew’s body radiating from him stronger than the heat of the burner.

“You’ll burn it, idiot,” Andrew hits him lightly in the shin with his socked foot.

Well, maybe that heat is the oven. Neil gets back to whipping. His cream is ready in what feels like no time at all. But then Andrew finishes just a minute later.

They sit in silence while Renee finishes mixing and Neil digs out his phone again. The mention pops out on his screen. It’s a reply to his comment to Matt’s photo of a kid’s costume.

_@aaronmminyard: @neiljosten you’ll fit just fine._

“Sometimes I think how Aaron can be this stupid when he’s actually really smart,” Neil muses out loud showing the comment to Andrew behind.

Andrew snorts. At Neil’s words or Aaron’s comment, Neil does not know. Maybe both.

Neil types “ _@aaronmminyard now you’re one to talk_ ” and shows that to Andrew too. Andrew grunts. That’s some reaction.

Neil’s feed is mostly Foxes and some other players, and a couple exy-related magazines and shops with their own Instagram accounts. He scrolls through it mindlessly feeling Andrew’s fingers on his collar. Then his presence is suddenly gone from behind Neil’s chair and he moves to the door.

“You need a smoke?” Renee asks before Neil can.

Andrew probably nods and leaves because Renee sits down with a glass of water.

“You can go too, you know,” she says to Neil. “I’ll take out the cakes and they will still need to cool down.”

“No, I—”

“Neil,” Kevin calls standing in the door Andrew left open. “Watch the latest game with me.”

Neil looks Kevin up and down thinking. He’s not really in the mood for a game. He’s making cupcakes. And he wants to go kiss Andrew senseless. Or Andrew kiss him senseless. There are too many people in their dorm when he planned to drive Kevin out tonight and have the evening to himself and Andrew. A surprise party for two. Which, by the way, Kevin ruined.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” He stands up anyway but turns to Renee. “You sure it’s okay?”

When she smiles kindly Neil strides past shocked Kevin into the room and then to their bedroom. On his way, Allison shouts to Kevin’s back:

“You owe me ten bucks!”

Andrew is at his usual place smoking into the window.

“So what was that all today?” Andrew asks after a minute of silence as Neil pushes himself to sit at the desk near Andrew’s legs.

“Thought I’d make a surprise,” he says.

“You know I hate surprises.” Andrew’s voice is low as he takes a drag from his cigarette.

Neil knows that. And he also knows what kind of surprises are those that Andrew hates. Neil looks down and swings his legs a little.

“Just a few cupcakes, booze, and some kissing and stuff if you felt like it. I thought I could be the one arranging us time alone for a change.”

“How were you going to get rid of Kevin?” Andrew casts Neil a glance as he exhales the smoke and inhales ones more.

“Push him onto Nicky. Erik’s working tomorrow, and the time difference is not favorable for Skype calls. They had their Valentine’s talk in the morning.”

Matt complained about that ‘talk’ to Neil when they were in the gym. Said Nicky woke him up and Matt had to escape to the girls’. And Matt and Dan aren’t going to be back tonight, too.

A silence that follows is filled with emotions.

“I hate you.”

“That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t kiss me.” Neil tilts his body back. “Now. Yes or no, Andrew?”

Andrew’s lips taste like cigarettes and he actually breathes some smoke into Neil’s mouth. He grabs Neil’s t-shirt by the collar too, to clash their mouths together. This is like those kisses in the kitchen, hungry and making Neil’s ears ring. He sucks on Andrew’s lower lip and gasps when Andrew’s hand slips under his shirt. Andrew is cold from being too close to the window in February but the cold only makes Neil’s skin grow hotter.

Andrew touches his forehead to Neil’s and presses his hand to Neil’s scars.

“Do that,” Andrew says and it sounds almost like murmur against Neil’s lips. It takes a moment for Neil to understand the words—he’s never getting used to Andrew kissing him like this.

“After we all eat cupcakes, yeah.”

When they get back it’s to find Renee’s almost finished decorating the cupcakes and everyone is gathering around with bottles and glasses. They get the freshmen who are in the dorms to share the evening and then Neil does deposit a drunk Kevin to equally drunk Nicky. Allison tells Renee that Nicky will have to hand her ten bucks too as they herd the underclassmen out leaving Neil and Andrew alone.

They don’t waste time on cleaning up the mess in the kitchen or in the room.

 

When Neil wakes up it’s to the sound of coffee brewing in the kitchen. He gets his sweats and follows the sound and the smell of coffee to find Andrew there finishing a cupcake.

“Did you even eat anything proper?” Neil manages around a yawn as Andrew pours coffee in two mugs.

Andrew is already dressed up to his armbands and a shirt. He looks sleepy but not as much as Neil.

“Cleaning duty is on you,” he says in way of answering. Neil casts him a sour look which Andrew ignores heading out of the room with his coffee.

As Neil drinks his coffee and estimates the scope of work he notices that his ugly cupcakes are gone from the windowsill. He doesn’t remember but he thinks maybe Renee took them after all.

(He is wrong. Messed up or not, chocolate cupcakes are still chocolate cupcakes and Andrew is not one for charity and sharing :D)

 

* * *

 

  


End file.
